Women In Sports

Should Men Care About Women In Sports?

Of course, the discussion gets still murkier when drilling down into particular sports. Auto racing, while not exactly a “sport” in the traditional sense, still requires focus, reflexes and endurance that few people possess. Danica Patrick has found some success, and I don’t think that raises much of an eyebrow any longer. I don’t see how having lady parts makes her any more susceptible to dying in a fiery crash.

Football is a different story. Size matters, and there aren’t really any positions in which it doesn’t. Even kickers and quarterbacks, though technically protected by the rules, need to be durable enough to survive those instances when the rules get broken. Bringing a woman on the squad as, say, a kicker, either because of a phenomenal talent or even as a publicity stunt, would create a liability nightmare. And, to be sure, I understand those who would protest that position. “Who are you to decide what is and isn’t safe for me? I bet I could do just as well as lots of men.” Yes, I’m sure you could, hypothetical female athlete, but that’s why most men can’t play college or professional sports either. The best quarterback in the world might be a guy running routes on an intramural field somewhere, but if he doesn’t meet certain standards, there just isn’t a place for him.

The solution would be to either remove all barriers or put up more. Instead of a women-only league, maybe the NBA could create some kind of farm system based 100% on merit with no regard to gender. If those players turn out to be mostly male, so be it — at least it would eliminate the notion of institutionalized discrimination based on genitals. Or leagues could go ahead and take the PR hit and slap an “M” in front of the NBA, NHL, NFL, etc. Discriminatory, yes, but at least consistent. “Separate but equal” may have been a civil rights nightmare, but it would make a lot more sense in the sporting world. No longer would we have a “world champion” basketball team (that happened to be men) and a “women’s world championship” team. If the Olympics can do it, I don’t see what’s stopping professional sports. It’ll probably never happen, because as a society we like the idea of “breaking barriers” almost as much as we like watching elite competition. Brittney Griner playing on an NBA team would be revolutionary, even if there wasn’t technically a barrier to begin with.

In the end, professional (and even some amateur) sports are a business, and business owners tend to do what’s best for business. Up to and including now, women’s involvement in “men’s” sports have largely been cameo appearances that were more about PR than anything culturally impactful. If, as a society, we are able to remove the stigma for men that comes with “having” to compete against women and the stomach-churning possibility of losing to them, it would forever eliminate a powerful marketing tool that currently masquerades as progressivism. Controversy gets eyes on television screens and butts in seats, and so eliminating it would be detrimental to the bottom line. Even having three to four female players in a league — something that would likely be totally doable depending on the sport — would make it a non-issue. It’s a lot more interesting to create a “story” around one woman chasing history.

I honestly don’t care whether or not Brittney Griner gets a spot on the Mavericks. If she does, good for her. If not, doesn’t matter much to me. But outside of a Mark Cuban PR play, it probably ain’t gonna happen.